The Liberal Democrat party (Lib Dems) would introduce charges for all single-use bags, including biodegradable and paper ones, if it were to gain power in May.

Under the current Single Use Carrier Bag Charges (England) Order 2015, coming into effect on 5 October 2015, organisations with more than 250 employees must charge a minimum of five pence for single-use plastic bags to reduce plastic bag use and litter.

Unlike similar schemes set up in other parts of the UK, however, (such as Wales’s plastic bag levy, which has seen bag use drop by 76 per cent), the UK government outlined it would not include reusable ‘bags for life’ or paper bags, nor would the levy apply to organisations with fewer than 250 employees. Further, in the November 2013 consultation on the subject, government revealed that it would be exempting biodegradable plastic bags from the charge.

However, Deputy Prime Minister and Leader of the Liberal Democrats Nick Clegg has now revealed that, if the party were to gain power after the general election in May, it would extend the charge to include single-use paper bags and biodegradable bags, and require small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to implement the charge too.

It is estimated that removing these exemptions would remove an additional 3.5 billion single-use plastic bags and 328 million papers bags a year from circulation, generating over the next decade an estimated £300 million in net benefits for SMEs, around £100 million of net benefits to consumers (as the cost of the carrier bags will be removed from retail prices), and raising ‘significant money’ for good causes, and reducing the costs of cleaning up litter.

The move would form part of a new Nature Bill, which aims to reduce the levels of litter seen in our cities and countryside

Clegg also announced that other policies covered in the bill would include:

• publishing a 25-year ‘Nature of Britain’ plan with recommendations for reversing the decline of species and their habitats, such as bees and other insects that pollinate crops;
• creating two further tranches of Marine Conservations Zones in English seas by 2015-2016; and
• creating a million square kilometre ‘Shackleton Marine Reserve’ in the south Atlantic, dedicated to the famous British explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton, buried in the South Georgia & South Sandwich Islands that forms part of the reserve.

‘We cannot allow environmental issues to be ignored’

Commenting on the proposed Bill, Clegg said: “Whilst some people have gone suspiciously quiet on the need to tackle climate change, the Liberal Democrats have never pulled our punches to safeguard the environment. It is so important that we stop polluting our country and protect our natural spaces and wildlife. We cannot allow environmental issues to be ignored.

“The facts are simple; single-use bags blight our towns and countryside, they trap and suffocate wildlife, and plastic bags take hundreds of years to degrade.

“The countdown to charging has begun, and by the time it arrives this autumn, reusable bags should increasingly be commonplace. As we get used to it, the hundreds of millions raised from the charge will go to charities.

“But we need to do much more. We need to go further and faster. This is why the Liberal Democrats will remove all single use bag exemptions, benefitting consumers, charities, small businesses, and the millions of families who enjoy our wildlife and countryside.”

Five Green Laws

The Nature Bill forms one of five ‘green’ laws that the party would introduce following a potential election victory. The other four are:

• A ‘Zero Waste Britain’ Bill – involving increased fines for fly-tipping (announced earlier this week), ‘binding targets’ on resource use, and a ‘clear action plan to reduce waste’;
• A ‘Heating and Energy Efficiency’ Bill – focusing on improving the energy efficiency of households;
• A ‘Zero Carbon Britain’ Bill – including a decarbonisation target for electricity generation and a ban on electricity generation from unabated coal;
• A ‘Green Transport’ Bill – allowing only low-emission vehicles on the roads from 2040 and reforming planning law to ‘ensure new developments are designed around walking, cycling and public transport’.

Find out more about the Liberal Democrats proposals for waste.